The present invention relates to a health support device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved health support device using titanium oxide as a base material.
The present inventors previously developed a composite medical treating device in which laminations of an n-type semiconductor film and a p-type semiconductor film are coated on a surface of a ferrodielectric substance as a base material (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Hei 8-10339). However, the production of the composite medical treating device requires a large number of processing steps and therefore takes much time and labor, resulting in high cost.
The present inventors further conducted studies and have found that a health support device that exhibits even more excellent medical treating effect is obtained by employing a partially-reduced sintered material of titanium oxide as a base material.
The present invention solves the problems in the above-described prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a health support device that is effective in curing disorders of a wide variety of organs. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of producing the health support device.
The present invention provides a health support device including a partially-reduced sintered material of titanium oxide, and a lamination of a semiconductor film formed on a surface of the partially-reduced sintered material.
In addition, the present invention provides a health support device including a partially-reduced sintered material of titanium oxide, and a lamination of a p-type semiconductor film formed on a surface of the partially-reduced sintered material.
In either of the above-described health support devices, the semiconductor film may be of silicon or germanium.
In any one of the above-described health support devices, the partially-reduced sintered material of titanium oxide may be a low-order oxide of titanium represented by TiO2xe2x88x92x, where 0 less than xc3x97 less than 0.5.
In any one of the above-described health support devices, the semiconductor film may have a thickness of from 1 nanometer to 500 nanometers.
In addition, the present invention provides a method of producing a health support device. The method includes the steps of: pressure-molding a mixture of a titanium oxide powder and a binder to form a molded material; sintering the molded material at a temperature of from 500xc2x0 C. to 1100xc2x0 C. in a vacuum atmosphere, an inert atmosphere or a reducing atmosphere to obtain a partially-reduced sintered material of titanium oxide; and forming a p-type semiconductor film on a surface of the partially-reduced sintered material of titanium oxide.
In addition, the present invention provides a method of producing a health support device. The method includes the steps of: pressure-molding a mixture of a titanium oxide powder and a binder that exhibits a reducing action during sintering to form a molded material; sintering the molded material to obtain a partially-reduced sintered material of titanium oxide; and forming a p-type semiconductor film on a surface of the partially-reduced sintered material of titanium oxide.
In either of the above-described methods, the binder may be at least one selected from the group consisting of varnishes, starches, and polyvinyl alcohol.
In any one of the above-described methods, the partially-reduced sintered material of titanium oxide may be a low-order oxide of titanium represented by TiO2xe2x88x92x, where 0 less than xc3x97 less than 0.5.
Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.
The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.